A year in homicides

STOCKTON - By any measure, 2011 was the deadliest year in the recorded history of San Joaquin County.

Jordan Guinn

STOCKTON - By any measure, 2011 was the deadliest year in the recorded history of San Joaquin County.

Ninety people lost their lives through violent acts, an average of roughly 1.7 slayings per week.

Stockton shattered its grim record for homicides in a year with 58, and the 24 killings the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office investigated this past year was by far the highest in a generation.

Even in Manteca, once considered immune to such violence, the five killings in 2011 more than doubled the previous high of two in 2009.

Authorities attribute the spike in violence to cutbacks in law enforcement budgets, smaller staffs, desperation from people struggling in a down economy, and revived turf wars among gangs. Many of the year's killings remain unsolved because potential witnesses - either fearing reprisals or because they are distrustful of law enforcement - are reluctant to cooperate with the investigations.

"Speaking solely for our department, I can tell you we do look at the fact criminals are out there increasing in gang activity and are seizing an opportunity that didn't otherwise exist in years past," said Officer Pete Smith, a spokesman for the Stockton Police Department. "They make a business of what they do, even though they are engaged in an illegal operation. Like any good business person, they are looking at ways to better augment the market they are working in. They realize the police are 100 officers down from where they were a few years back and are less proactive than we were then."

Layoffs and attrition have forced the Stockton Police Department to readjust its day-to-day operations, Smith said. Fewer officers are available for patrol and traffic duty, and cutbacks have been made to the department's investigations unit.

Only one detective is assigned to the Manteca Police Department's homicide division, but detectives from across the department will assist with investigations, said Officer Jason Hensley, a spokesman for the department.

The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office has lost 41 deputies over the past three years through retirement and attrition, including homicide detectives, said Deputy Les Garcia, a department spokesman.

But nowhere is the shortfall as dire as in Stockton. As a result of cutbacks, the Stockton Police Department is less able to take preventive measures against criminals and is forced to take a reactive approach, Smith said.

"This administration has been clear from the start that our primary service to citizens is to handle in-progress and violent crimes," he said.

The only area within the department that has not lost any members since Stockton's budget crisis began is the robbery and homicide division, he said.

"We have the same number of detectives and sergeants covering robberies and homicides as we did in 2008, but their workload has more than doubled in the past two years," he said.

The closure rate for homicide investigations by the Stockton Police Department was at nearly 50 percent in 2011, and Smith said the number would be higher if witnesses would cooperate with detectives.

"When talking about gang-related homicides, there is an inherent roadblock to the investigation," he said. "In most cases, we're talking about generations and generations involved in gang life who inherently mistrust police or don't want to cooperate. There is also a feeling in gang communities that they will deal with it internally."

For the 58 homicides the Stockton Police Department investigated in 2011, 26 were gang-related or likely gang-related, Smith said. In 18 others, it's unknown if gangs played a role. Many of the remaining deaths were linked to domestic violence, arguments, negligence, abuse or robberies, police said.

The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office and Lodi and Manteca police departments also saw an increase in homicides. The Sheriff's Office caseload grew to 24 slayings in 2011 from eight in 2010, while Manteca police investigated five killings. In Lodi, where detectives typically investigate one killing a year, they handled two homicides in 2011.

The last time the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office investigated as many homicides in a year was when deaths at Deuel Vocational Institute in Tracy were reflected in the statistics, Garcia said. "We were in the 40s in the 1970s, but we covered more areas in the county plus the prison."

The homicide tallies are based on the FBI's definition of a "criminal homicide." Vehicular homicides, officer-involved fatal shootings (of which there were four in San Joaquin County in 2011 and one in Amador County) and justifiable homicides (self-defense) are not included in the FBI's rankings.

The only place in the county to see a decrease in homicides was Tracy, which had none in 2011 after suffering four in 2010.

All told, there were 90 homicide victims in San Joaquin County in 2011, one in Calaveras County and two in Amador County.

The first victim of the year in San Joaquin County was also Stockton's first: Savanda Somvilay, a 30-year-old woman police believe was a victim of domestic violence. Her boyfriend, Ronald Wayne Holmes, 29, was arrested in mid-February and stands accused in her death.

The county's final homicide of the year took place in the 800 block of Windsail Lane on Dec. 22, when 24-year-old Omar Virgen was shot and killed in a garage where he and five of his friends were drinking beer. No arrests have been made in the drive-by shooting.

The death of each individual is devastating loss to family and loved ones. Others strike a chord throughout the community.

Three-year-old Ruben Ramirez was struck and killed by a motorist Oct. 3 in what police allege was a hit-and-run. Aushua McDuff-Brown, 22, was arrested two days later in Southern California and will face trial in connection with the boy's death. Police say she was attempting to use her car to hit a woman with whom she was arguing when she instead hit Ruben.

Dalene Carlson was a 23-year-old who had recently moved to Stockton before disappearing in early August, and her relatives aggressively engaged the public to look for her. Nearly two months later, her body was found in a cornfield near Escalon. Jason Gilley, 25, is believed to be the last person who saw her alive and faces murder charges.

Hers was the 46th homicide in Stockton, where the number of slayings within city limits has risen for four consecutive years. The spike began in 2008, with 24 homicides. There were 33 in 2009 and 49 in 2010 before the 58 in 2011.

The 2011 violence escalated in June, when two factions of local street gangs began a war with each other, Smith said.

Because multiple cases are still under investigation, Smith said the department could not disclose how many of 2011's homicides are related to the feud.

But Stockton Police Chief Blair Ulring conceded that the feud is believed to be responsible for "a number" of the killings.

The two most important things a police chief can provide are quality of life and a perception of safety, Ulring said. Although the city broke a nearly two-decade-old record for homicides in the year, Ulring said the violence was rarely random.

"The vast majority of victims of violent crime are involved in a lifestyle that puts them at greater risk," he said. "Often, the victims of violent crimes - not related to street robberies - are in a lifestyle that enables them to become a victim."

The chief acknowledged there are significant crime elements in the city but stressed the perception of Stockton isn't always equal to the reality.

He pointed to statistics through November showing street robberies had dropped more than four percent from 2010's totals. The statistic of concern to Ulring was tied to officer-initiated activity, which includes traffic stops and checkouts. Through November, the amount of time patrol officers spent pursuing crimes on their own - as opposed to responding to calls once a crime has been committed - dropped 47 percent.

"We're almost completely reactive on a patrol basis," Ulring said.

He attributed the decline to a reduction of patrol officers and a realignment of police personnel.

Ulring, who will retire at the end of February, said efforts to improve the city will continue through his tenure and after it.

"I don't think (the people of Stockton) are less safe now than they were last year," he said. "But I know we have people in this town who don't feel safe."